The St. Joe Company Reports Full Year 2004 Net Income of $1.17 Per Share, an Increase of 19.4 Percent
biz.yahoo.com
Wednesday February 2, 7:02 am ET
Fourth Quarter Net Income Was $28.1 Million, or $0.37 Per Share
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 2, 2005--The St. Joe Company (:
Milestones Reached in 2004 to Shape JOE's Future:
Land-Use Entitlements Received for JOE's Next Generation of Towns
& Resorts
West Bay Sector Receives Land-Use Approvals
JOE Completes Pier Park Land Sale
RiverCamps Demonstrates Early Success
duPont Trust's JOE Ownership Now 7.5 Percent
The St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE - News) today announced that its Net Income for the full year 2004 was $90.1 million, or $1.17 per share, compared with $75.9 million, or $0.98 per share, for the full year 2003. Net Income for 2004 included after-tax conservation land sales gains of $1.5 million, or $0.02 per share, compared to $22.7 million, or $0.29 per share, for the full year 2003. The results for 2003 also included an after-tax non-cash asset impairment charge of $8.8 million, or $0.11 per share.
Fourth quarter 2004 Net Income was $28.1 million, or $0.37 per share, compared with $28.7 million, or $0.37 per share, for the fourth quarter of 2003. Net Income in the fourth quarter of 2004 had no conservation land sales, compared to after-tax conservation land sale gains of $9.0 million, or $0.12 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2003. All per share references in this release are presented on a fully diluted basis.
JOE Turns in an Excellent 2004
"By every measure, 2004 was an excellent year for JOE and our shareholders," said Peter S. Rummell, chairman and CEO of JOE. "We delivered significant value to shareholders, and we made progress on several key strategic initiatives that will enhance JOE's ability to deliver value for many years to come."
"During 2004, we saw the culmination of nearly eight years of effort to transform JOE from an aging industrial conglomerate to a dynamic place-maker," said Rummell. "Our success can only partially be measured in the value we have created thus far. We won't be able to calculate its full measure for years. Our efforts have resulted in a number of significant accomplishments that set the stage for JOE's next wave of value creation. I would like to highlight five of them."
"First, JOE completed a Development of Regional Impact (DRI) land-use entitlement for WindMark Beach in Gulf County for 1,662 units on 2,080 acres," said Rummell. "In addition, a DRI was approved for RiverTown in St. Johns County for 4,500 units on 4,170 acres. Land-use entitlements were also received for WaterSound West Beach in Walton County with 197 units on 62 acres and for Perico Island in Manatee County with 686 units on 352 acres. These projects constitute a significant portion of JOE's next generation of value creation."
"Second, the legal challenges to the land-use changes in the West Bay Sector for 20,556 acres of JOE land and for the proposed relocation of the Panama City-Bay County International Airport were resolved," said Rummell. "At year's end, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released its draft Environmental Impact Statement, which took a favorable view of relocation. While other regulatory steps remain before a final decision is reached on the relocation of the airport, we expect the FAA to issue a Record of Decision on the Environmental Impact Statement by the end of 2005."
"Third, during 2004, JOE closed its most significant commercial transaction to date," said Rummell. "Simon Property Group, one of the nation's largest retail developers, purchased 93 acres from JOE and entered into a development agreement at Pier Park in Panama City Beach. News of the transaction has attracted significant interest from national and regional commercial users and raised Northwest Florida's profile to new heights."
"Fourth, the early success of RiverCamps illustrates our strategy for pushing value inland," said Rummell. "The Southern Living Idea House at RiverCamps on Crooked Creek defines the RiverCamps experience. But just as important, the research and work that went into creating RiverCamps has spawned new product concepts including Farmsteads, Ranches and Preserves."
"Fifth, the Alfred I. duPont Trust (the Trust) completed the diversification plan it began in 1997, reducing its share of ownership in JOE from 69.8 percent to approximately 7.5 percent today," said Rummell. "This marked an important moment in JOE history and increased our common stock liquidity."
"Combined, these milestones have not only transformed JOE, they have also significantly advanced the regional transformation now underway in Northwest Florida," said Rummell. "Few would have believed this possible eight years ago. Today, Northwest Florida is well on its way to becoming the 'next great place.'"
A Strong Fourth Quarter for JOE
"JOE ended 2004 with a strong fourth quarter," said Rummell. "Included in the results for the fourth quarter was the proceeds from the sale of approximately 93 acres at Pier Park in Panama City Beach to the Simon Property Group for $26.5 million, or approximately $286,000 per acre."
"St. Joe Towns & Resorts performed well during the fourth quarter of 2004 - and for the entire year," said Rummell. "We made a strategic decision to carefully manage inventories at our beachfront communities, and consequently, we released no new inventory in the fourth quarter of 2004. Our primary residential communities continued to perform well."
"St. Joe Land turned in another solid quarter with a good mix of land sales," said Rummell. "In addition, at RiverCamps on Crooked Creek, JOE closed 41 units with prices ranging from $129,000 to $595,000, plus one bay-front home site priced at $750,000. JOE is well positioned in 2005 to begin extending its RiverCamps product to new sites and to bring to market a range of new rural land products."
"Overall, we saw solid contributions from all our business segments during the fourth quarter of 2004 and each enters 2005 in a position of strength," said Rummell.
OUTLOOK
Full-Year Expectations for 2005
"JOE expects to have another strong year in 2005 with earnings per share, excluding gains from conservation land sales, to be in the range of $1.35 to $1.50 per share," said Kevin M. Twomey, JOE's president. "We believe JOE's major segments will produce good results in 2005 as we bring a broad array of real estate products to market. We are well positioned in Florida, a state with one of the nation's strongest economies, where we have significant demographic and geographic advantages."
"The first quarter is traditionally our slowest quarter of the year," said Twomey. "We expect the first quarter of 2005 to be in line with our performance in the first quarter of 2004."
Towns & Resorts
"We expect JOE's Towns & Resorts segment to drive the increase in earnings for 2005," said Twomey. "WaterColor and WaterSound Beach combined are expected to deliver fewer units than in 2004 but produce nearly as much earnings. Several existing projects, notably Artisan Park, Victoria Park, Palmetto Trace, Rivercrest and Paseos, should see earnings increases. Three new projects, WindMark Beach phase two, SummerCamp and WaterSound West Beach, are expected to generate income in 2005, subject to the receipt of necessary environmental permits."
"Notably, our expectations for 2005 do not include sales at three major entitled projects we expect to bring to market in 2006: WaterSound phase one, RiverTown and Perico Island," said Twomey.
Commercial Real Estate
"During 2005, our commercial real estate segment is expected to continue adding value through development and land sales in Northwest Florida and from rental income from our investment property portfolio," said Twomey. "Results from this segment are expected to be similar to 2004's level, despite the fact that we do not expect to replicate the gains from building sales in 2005."
St. Joe Land Company
"We expect St. Joe Land Company to deliver modestly higher income in 2005, with a substantially different mix of earnings sources," said Twomey. "We have decided not to sell two large tracts of land, which we had initially planned to sell in 2005 and 2006, because we see significantly greater profit opportunity from this land through future development. At the same time, we expect our RiverCamps products to deliver more sales with increased unit pricing."
DIVIDENDS AND STOCK REPURCHASE PROGRAM
A quarterly cash dividend of $0.14 per share of common stock was paid on December 31, 2004 to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 15, 2004. For the year, JOE paid $0.52 per share in dividends on its common stock.
During the fourth quarter of 2004, the company expended an aggregate of $30.0 million for dividends and the acquisition of its shares. JOE acquired 353,965 of its shares at a cost of $19.4 million, an average price of $54.76 per share, during the fourth quarter. Of these amounts, 339,700 shares were acquired through open market purchases for $18.7 million (an average of $54.95 per share) and 14,265 shares of stock, having a value of $0.7 million, were surrendered by company executives as payment for the strike price and taxes due on exercised stock options. For the full year, the company expended a total of $144.5 million for dividends and the acquisition of its shares. |
